Application Notes

Buried Installation of
Optic Fiber Cable
Issued
November 2013

Abstract

Buried cable is a kind of communications cable which is especially designed to be buried

under the ground without any kind of extra covering, sheathing, or piping to protect it. This
cable is built to specific tolerances to heat, moisture, conductivity, and soil acidity. Unlike
standard telecommunications cables, which have only a thin layer of insulation and a waterproof
outer cover, Buried Cable may consist of multiple layers of sheathing or jacketing, reinforced by
metallic-banded, shock absorbing gel, wrapped thread-fortified waterproof tape, etc.This
Applications Note describes the placement of optical cables as buried cable in the outside
plant portion of the communications network.

Keywords
Plowing, Trenching
1. Table of Contents
2. Introduction 2
3. Advantages of Buried Plant 2
4. General Procedure 3
5. Precautions 5
5.1 Cable Handling 5
5.2 LED and Laser Precaution 5
5.3 Material Safety 5
5.4 Safety During Installation 6
5.5 Personal Protective Equipment 7
5.6 Traffic Safety 7
5.7 Placing Equipment 7
5.8 Cable Protection and Handling 7
6. Preparation for Cable Placing 8
6.1 Pre-Construction Survey 8
6.2 Cable Staging 11
7.Tools and Materials 11
7.1 Innerduct and Micro-Ducts 14
7.2 Lubricant 14
7.3 Winches 14
7.4 Cable Blowing and Pushing Engine
14
8.Buried Cable Placing Methods 15
8.1 Trenched Construction 15
8.2 Plowed Construction 16
9.Manhole or Handhole Housekeeping 17
9.1 Cable Coiling 17
9.2 Racking Cable and Innerduct 17
10 Further Assistance 18
2. Introduction
Buried plant is usually placed into a narrow trench or plowed directly in the ground. Sometimes
a fiber cable is placed in an open trench with several empty sub-ducts for use when future
service demands require more cable infrastructure.
A general description of placing fiber cables will be presented in this Note. The Direct buried
cable placing methods described in this document are intended as guidelines. National, state,
local, and corporate specifications, regulations, and industry recommendations normally take
precedence over these. It is impossible to cover all the conditions that may arise during a
placing operation. Individual company practices for placing fiber optic cable should supersede
any conflicting instructions in this document whenever they do not exceed the cable's optical
and mechanical performance specifications. This note is not intended as a replacement for
instructions or operations described by the manufacturer's procedures for the materials and
equipment being used.

3. Advantages of Buried Plant

Construction of buried plant is popular because it provides three major advantages over
other types of communications plant construction when used in properly suited areas.

1. It provides a fast installation procedure.

2. It is economical both in initial investment in infrastructure and it provides good flexibility
in being able to place new plant in a more timely manner to closely match new service
demands.
3. It is the least disruptive to surface conditions along the right-of-way.
Buried construction is well suited for use in the following conditions:

Soils with low clay content.

Compatible granular soils.
Free from medium or large size rocks.
Free of frozen soil and/or debris.
Right-of-way with few crossing utilities, roadways, or underground
obstacles.
Right-of-way that crosses open land, free from buildings, and large
expanses of paved areas.

Special techniques such as directional drilling and boring may need to be used to cross roads,
railroad tracks, or paved areas. Areas that have rocky or frozen soil may need to be pre-ripped
in advance of attempting to place cable using a plow.
4. General Procedure

Buried cable is placed directly in the ground, without being encased in a conduit system. It is
commonly placed with several feet of soil cover over the cable with the depth of cover
depending upon the type of soil, surface loads, and applicable regulations. Generally, one or
two cables are placed in an open trench dug by a trencher or plowed directly into the soil.

If the cable is placed with a trencher, a narrow trench is dug and covered with a bed of fine
granular soil, several inches thick to serve as a protective bed for the cable to cushion it from
any sharp rocks at the floor of the trench. The cable is then covered with the same granular
material to a depth of approximately 6 inches. The granular backfill provides good cushioning
of the cable with protection from stones that could migrate into the cable from years of surface
loading and climatic conditions. The remainder of the trench is normally backfilled with clean
soil, usually the original soil excavated from the trench. The surface is compacted, usually, with
a roller or flat plate soil compactor. Occasionally, if the applicable construction regulations
permit, a large rubber tire or track from a tractor mounted backhoe or trencher is run over the
backfilled trench to compact the soil.

Plowing is often used to place buried cable. The process is well suited for some soils, such as
granular, rock free soil. The plowing operation usually requires a large tractor type vehicle to
pull the plow through the soil. The tractor is usually a large diesel powered, tracked vehicle,
although rubber tires are used on some vehicles. The plow share must be properly designed to
feed the cable through the share and into the soil without violating its minimum bending radius.
The share must provide a smooth entry for the cable and no sharp edges to damage the cable.
Most plow trains are arranged with the front end of the tractor modified to carry the cable reel.
The cable is passed over the top of the tractor to the plow share with its pathway controlled by
a series of rollers on top of the tractor that capture the cable and keep it safe and aligned with
the plow as it passes over the tractor. The cable is tended by an operator to feed it into the top
of the plow under zero tension.

If plowing is attempted in difficult soil, it may be necessary to use a second tractor, in tandem
with the primary tractor power unit. Rocky, frozen, or poor quality soils may need to be ripped
in advance of the plowing operation.

Buried optical cable needs to have a robust design to resist damage during its service lifetime.
Since buried cable is generally laid in the trench or placed using heavy machinery, the
difference in cable handling due to the jacket stiffness is not too significant during cable
placement, but will be noticed during reel handling and splicing operations. Armoring is
recommended for standard size buried fiber cables. Depending upon the quality of the soil and
the amount of rocks encountered, it may be necessary to use an armored dual-jacket cable as
opposed to a single-jacket armored cable. Table 1 provides a comparison between armored
single- and dual-jacketed cables.
 Single Jacket Dual Jacket
Suitable for direct burial and underground Suitable for direct burial and underground
applications. applications.
Cable is lighter and easier to install. Extra protection for direct buried applications.
Cable is more flexible, easier to prepare. Cable is heavier than single jacket cable.
Metallic armoring requires the cable to be Best rodent protection.
properly bonded and grounded. Most robust design, good crush and impact resistance.
Metallic armoring requires the cable to be
properly bonded and grounded.
Extra weight makes cable more difficult to place.
Requires more time and is more difficult to
prepare for splicing.

Table 1– Comparison between Single and Dual Jacketed Cable

Table 2 provides a tabular summary of the types of applications served by various forms of
buried optical plant.

Underground Plant New Old Campuses

Urban Rural
Suburban Suburban
Trenched Standard Fiber Cable
Trenched Micro-Ducts
Plowed Standard Fiber Cable
Plowed Micro-Ducts

Table 2– Commonly Used Forms of Buried Plant for Various OSP Applications
= Used often in this application
= Can be used in the application under certain circumstances
Buried cables are generally terminated and spliced 1in handholes or pedestals.
Underground/buried inter-connection usually occurs in a manhole or occasionally in a handhole.

It is possible to bury unoccupied lengths of sub-ducting or conduit in a narrow trench or with an

adjacent buried fiber cable. Unfortunately the distance that an optical cable can be
confidently pulled into trenched sub-ducting (3/4 to 2-inches in diameter) is limited and is
dependent that the sub-duct is placed under slight tension to keep it as straight as possible
once it is backfilled with soil. Larger diameter conduits can be trenched alone or with one
or two optical cables then lined with innerduct to serve as pathways for individual standard
size optical cables or with micro-ducts to house micro-duct cables. Finally, composite duct-like
units of grouped multiple sections of micro-duct are manufactured in long lengths. These
composite, multi-unit lengths of ducting can be trenched alone or with one or two optical
cables to serve as pathways to jet micro-duct cables when future service demands require.

The buried placing methods described in this document are intended as guidelines. Most fiber
optic cables are usually ordered in lengths as calculated by an OSP (Outside Plant) Engineer
to match the span they will occupy. Their lengths are determined by measuring the distance
between selected splice point plus the excess cable length required for splicing and slack
storage for maintenance. In addition, extra length should be included in the ordered length to
be available if errors are made during the construction operation. If the excess splice length is
not known, the splicing foreman should be consulted. Never cut a fiber cable without first
consulting the OSP Engineer responsible for the job.
5. Precautions
5.1 Cable Handling
All optical cables are sensitive to damage during shipping, handling, and installation.
Some of the important parameters that need special attention during cable installation are:

Cable bending radius: Optical fiber cables are designed with a minimum bending radius
and maximum tensile strength.The cable should never be bent below its minimum bending
radius. Doing so can result in bending losses and/or breaks in the cable's fibers.Generally
the minimum bending radius of a fiber cable under load is 20 × D, where D is the diameter
of cable; the minimum bending radius of a fiber cable under no load is 15 × D.

Cable Placing Tension: Optical cables are designed with a maximum tensile strength. The
cable should never be loaded beyond its maximum tensile strength. Exceeding this value
provided by Sterlite in the Cable Data Sheet / Specification, can alter cable and fiber
performance and shorten its service lifetime.

5.2 LED and Laser Precaution

LED and Laser beams used in testing fiber optic cable and transmission systems are invisible to
the human eye and can seriously damage the eye. Viewing these beams directly may not cause
any pain and the iris of eye does not close automatically as it does while viewing a bright light.
As a result the eye may not react to protect itself, causing serious damage to result to the retina.

5.3 Material Safety

Fiber optic splicing and termination processes often use various chemical cleaners.The safety
instructions developed for these substances should be followed. If there is confusion in the
usage of these products, ask their manufacturer for a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS).
Remember the following instructions while working with these chemicals.

Always work in well-ventilated areas.

Avoid skin contact with these cleaning materials as much as possible.
Avoid using chemicals that causes allergic reactions.
Isopropyl alcohol, used as a cleaner, is flammable and should be handled carefully.

1
A handhole is a dielectric structure providing access to small underground systems and buried plant.
Its top opens to store splice closures and spare cable. It is small in size, too small for a worker to enter.
The National Electrical Code covers handhole specifications.
Primary treatments for exposure to Isopropyl alcohol or Hexane in cleaning fibers or cables are
presented in Table 3.

Hexane Isopropyl
Type of Effect of
Exposure Effect of Emergency Treatment2
Emergency Treatment2
Exposure Exposure

Irritation of Irritation of Move victim to area containing

Maintain respiration, fresh air. Administer artificial
Inhalation the respiratory bed rest. the upper
tract, cough. respiratory tract. respiration if breathing is
irregular.
Do not induce vomiting, Have victim drink water and
Ingestion Nausea,Vomiting immediately seek medical
Drunkenness
Headache. and vomiting. milk. Seek medical assistance.
assistance.
Contact Wipe off affected area and Harmless Wipe off affected area of skin
with Skin Irritation. wash with soap and water. to skin. and wash with soap and water.

Contact Wash eyes with plenty of Wash eyes with

Irritation. Irritation.
with Eyes water for 15 minutes. plenty of water for 15 minutes.

Table 3– Primary Treatments for Hexane and Isopropyl Exposure

5.4 Safety During Installation
Manhole/Underground Vault Safety:
Explosive gases or vapors might be present in manholes or handholes due to gas leaking
from nearby pipelines, tanks, or the soil. Before entering any manhole test its atmosphere
with an approved test kit for flammable, explosive, and poisonous gases.
Avoid usage of any device that produces a spark or flame in or near a manhole.

Working Safely:
To minimize the risks of an accident in the work area, follow the existing rules for
setting up warning signs, barricades, manhole guards, and cones.
Ensure that the tools and equipment used for the cable installation are in proper
working order. Improperly functioning equipment may damage cable or cause injury to
personnel.

Be careful when working near electrical hazards, if electric lines are passing through or near
the right-of-way where installation is being performed.

Bond all metallic components in the cable and buried system together. At all points where
anyone may come in contact with the metallic components of the buried cable system,
ground the bonded metallic components to a proper earth ground to avoid electric hazards
produced by power lines or any other means.

2
Seek Emergency treatment for inhalation, ingestion, severe contact with skin, and contact with eyes.
5.5 Personal Protective Equipment

Placing optical cable and jetting micro-duct cable require sophisticated operations and use
equipment that many placing crews may not be experienced with. As a result, Sterlite
recommends using a placing crew that is familiar with and has experience with the cable being
placed and the procedures and equipment being used. Approved personal safety equipment,
such as hard hats, safety shoes, safety glasses, reflective traffic vests, and gloves shall be used
for all outside plant construction activities.

5.6 Traffic Safety

All applicable federal, state, and local departments of transportation regulations and codes
shall be met including the use of safety equipment such as reflective safety vests, warning
signs, barricades, and lighting if work is being performed during non-daylight hours. All traffic
control requirements shall be met.

5.7 Placing Equipment

Most of the equipment used is more sophisticated than conventional placing equipment. High
pressures are used to drive hydraulic motors as well as the use of high pressure air lines. If a
failure occurs to a high pressure hose or connection, it is potentially dangerous to those
working around the equipment.

Therefore, the placing crew needs to read, understand, and be familiar with all operating
procedures as well the safety issues outlined by the placing equipment manufacturer.

The depth of plow should be kept constant, if possible. Changing depth while plowing is likely
to kink and damage the cable. Extreme care is required to make the plowed depth of cover
change as gentile as possible.

5.8 Cable Protection and Reel Handling

While loading or unloading cable reels, care must be taken to prevent collision with
other reels, or damage to the reel or cable.
The reel should not be rolled a long distance. If it is necessary to roll the reel, it should be
rolled on both flanges in the direction indicated by the arrow on the flange.
The reel should never be stored on its side (do not store a reel flat on one flange).
Cable reels should always be stored on a flat surface with blocks placed under the
flanges to prevent rolling in either direction.
The cable on the reel should be covered at the factory with a UV/thermal wrap until
just prior to installation to protect it from exposure to the sun and high temperatures.

The reel should never be dropped (i.e. off of a flatbed truck).

6. Preparation for Cable Placing

6.1 Pre-Construction Survey

One of the most important steps in the engineering and placement of optical cable is the pre-
construction site survey.During this visit the placing supervisor and/or OSP engineer will be able
to observe any unusual situations that require special attention. The proposed placing route will
be evaluated for it ability to support the planned placing procedure.One of the main objectives
of the survey is to discover all potential pit-falls in the proposed placing operation so they may
be accounted for in the final procedure used.

General Issues
If possible, select a route that has good quality, rock-free soil; thatis in an open area with
few crossing utilities or surface obstacles.
Before any visit is made to a prospective construction site, an up-to-date plot plan showing
the location of existing utilities shall be obtained from each of the utilities that will affect the
construction operation.The plot plan shall be noted with details characterizing each utility
and phone numbers to call if there are problems.
Select a route that provides easy access for workers, equipment, and materials.
The placing route shall have a spacious and safe staging area convenient to the job site.
The staging area shall be a location in which cable reels can be unloaded and stored prior
to use. It shall also be a location at which fiber measurements can be made.It shall be
secure from vandalism and theft.
The job site and staging area shall be protected from both pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
Buried splice locations shall be selected on the basis of their ability to serve as a good
cable branching points, near obstacles for which the cable must be hand fed, and locations
spaced at distances convenient with respect to cable availability.
The pre-construction survey of must include an inspection of the respective handhole,
pedestal, and manhole locations. In addition, there must be sufficient space on the ground
surface adjacent to these splice locations to support the splicing operation.
Placing operations in all types of plant (aerial, buried, and underground) are normally easier
when done downhill. Try to configure the placing operation downhill.
All splice locations and points where human contact may result in exposure to metallic
components in the cable, splice closure, or buried infrastructure need to be properly
bonded and grounded to an earth ground.
Sufficient space must be provided around the start of the cable placement location
(manhole or handhole) to provide a starting point for the plow. The plow share must start at
full burial depth for the cable. A trench (starting pit) approximately 6-inches deeper than the
cable depth and about 8 feet long should be provided aligned with the cable route. The
plow will start the plowing operation from inside the starting pit. Each buried cable will have
its own starting pit.
If cable pulling is required, the placing operation shall be arranged to have the cable enter
the most difficult bends first (bends with the largest central angle), as early in the placing
operation as possible. This will allow the cable placing loads to be as low as possible.
New construction must follow the National Electric Safety Code; OSHA Safety Requirements;
and state, local, and federal guidelines.
All placing operations require constant high quality communications for the entire placing
operation. Radios are the most common means of communications for placing operations.
The pre-construction survey should ensure that the radios will work properly in the entire
construction area.
Underground and buried utilities should be marked on the ground surface so the
construction crew can easily determine where it is safe to work. Most areas have a “Call
before You Dig” phone number to call for contractors to use to avoid damaging
underground utilities during construction. If required, call on the designated phone number
before digging that connects contractors to their local one call center. Each state has
different rules and regulations concerning digging.

It may be necessary to dig exploratory holes along the right-of-way to sample the soil
to be encountered.
Rocky soils and heavily cohesive soils may need to be pre-ripped in advance of plowing. It
may also be necessary to use multiple tractor units arranged in tandem to provide sufficient
power to plow the intended communications plant.
Portions of the right-of-way that may need surface restoration need to be noted during
the pre-construction survey.
All locations where buried plant crosses obstructing facilities need to be visited during the
pre-construction survey. Crossing utilities and roadways are usually traversed by tunneling
or directional boring; although with special planning, secondary roads can be trenched. For
plowed plant, the plowing operation is continued to a tunneling trench that runs parallel to
the obstruction and is intended as support for the tunneling or boring operation. Cable and/
or ducting is unreeled and pulled through the tunnel under the obstruction into a tunneling
trench at the far side of the obstruction. It is recommended that a splice handhole, pedestal,
or manhole be placed close to and on the far side of a crossing obstruction, allowing a
trench to be dug from the tunneling trench to the splice location.

Figure 1– Tunneled Crossing Obstructions

Travel the entire length of the right-of–way to look for features that may present a problem
for the placing operation such as streams, gullies, trees, or any unrecorded structures.
The plan developed as a result of the pre-survey along with comments shall be summarized in
drawings made available to the placing crew.
Cables and sub-duct (if required) shall be delivered to a staging area designated in the pre-
placement survey by the service provider or contractor installing the cable.
All Sterlite cables are shipped with loss information on each fiber.The information is
provided electronically or as a hard copy attached to the cable reel.
The cable on each reel needs to be inspected for damage it is received. As a precaution and to
avoid costly extra cable removal operations, all fibers should be measured on the reel using an
OTDR. Measurements on Optical fiber cables should be made and if discrepancies are found
with respect to the factory “as shipped” test results on the cabled fiber, contact Sterlite
Technical Team for further assistance.

6.2 Cable Staging

New cables, sub-ducts, and micro-ducts will be staged at selected in safe, convent to the
right-of-way locations prior to their installation.
Staging locations shall be safe from vandalism and free of pedestrian and vehicular traffic
interaction. If possible, the staging area shall be flat and covered with an all-weather
surface that will not become a problem in wet or stormy weather.
The staging location shall be large enough to store the reels and placing equipment and
materials being used in the construction operation.
Reels shall be stored on the edge of both of their flanges with access to the side of the
reel for the pre-construction testing of the cable on the reel.
The thermal wrap shall be kept on the cable reel as long as possible to provide
thermal and solar protection to the cable as long as possible.
Pre-Construction measurements shall be made on all fibers in each new cable reel at
the staging location to confirm that they have survived shipment undamaged.

7. Tools and Materials

Buried cable placement is characterized by plowing or trenching cables underground. It may
also include placing several spare sub-ducts for future use with the buried cable. Standard size
fiber cables are normally placed as buried cable; they are also placed in any of the spare sub-
ducts (innerducts) that are inside ducts that were installed with the buried cable. Micro-duct
cables can be placed into micro-ducts which are housed directly in the innerducts. Placing
equipment is specially tuned to be effective for placing standard fiber cables or the even
smaller micro-duct cables. Procedures are used to keep bending and tensile stresses under
the threshold values that could begin to be a problem if violated.
The following sections are intentionally generic in tools and material application. Sterlite does
not intend for the following tools and materials list to supplant the individual's tools and
materials as defined by their company's practices. The following generic list is offered only as
an overview of the tools and material required for pulling cable into ducts
Buried Cable Placing Equipment
Plowing and Trenching Equipment

Vibrating Plow Vibrating Plow with Reel Carrier

Rubber Tire Trencher Micro- Chain Type Trencher

Duct Cable Placing
Equipment Jetting and Pushing
Equipment Buried Cable Placing

Strand Arnco Dura-Line Plumett Cable Jet GMP Air Stream

Dura-Line Air-Trak MD Arnco Dura-Line Plumett SuperJet

Arnco Dura-Line Plumett Mini Jet Cable Reel Trailer (Plumett)

Pulling Equipment

Portable Capstan Winch (GMP) Trailer mounted Capstan Winch (GMP)

Cable Placing Truck(Canada) Side take-off winch with slip clutch (Condux)
Support Equipment

Pull Line Rodding Cord

Buried Cable Placing Equipment

Duct Cutter Fiberglass Duct Rodder

Duct Lubricant Pulling Eyes for Sub-Ducts

 Pull Line Rodding Cord

Duct Plugs Pneumatic Missiles (“Pigs” or “Birdies”)

Large Diameter Splittable Sheave

Ball Bearing Swivels and Quadrent Block

Manhole Sheave and Quadrent Block (GMP) Pulling Frame in Manhole

Buried Sub-and Micro-Duct

Innerduct ENDOT
Buried Cable Placing Equipment

Micro-Ducts Multi-Unit Micro-Duct

7.1 Innerduct and Micro-Ducts
Buried installations are often combined with duct installations to go under obstacles like roads,
driveways, etc. At the transition point between the direct-buried section and the conduit, the
cable must be unreeled. In such cases use the figure-eight configuration to prevent kinking or
twisting. Standard communications conduit systems are generally made from formations of 3.5
inches to 4 inches in diameter single-bore conduit that is often arranged into multiple duct
conduit systems. Innerduct is often smooth wall polyethylene tubing ranging from 25mm to
50mm in diameter which houses standard fiber optic cable. Micro-ducts are small bore
polyethylene tubes ranging in diameter from 5 mm to 14 mm which houses micro-duct cables.

7.2 Lubricant
Generally, lubricant is not required to place buried cable. The following section is
included to cover placement of cables in sub-ducts placed with buried cables.
As always, the encasing conduit, sub-duct, innerduct, or micro-duct must be lubricated prior to
the start of any pulling operation. Once the pulling operation begins, lubrication must continue
to be applied to the plant being placed as it is placed.
The cable manufacturer's recommended minimum bend diameter shall be maintained. If no
minimum bend diameter is recommended, use th e minimum diameters listed below.

Cable under no load, Minimum bend radius 15 × Cable Diameter

Cable under load, Minimum bend radius 20 × Cable Diameter

7.3 Winches
Generally, winches are not required to place buried cable. The following section is
included to cover placement of cables in sub-ducts placed with buried cables.
Most standard size optical cables have a maximum cable placing force of 2700N or greater
(some cables have higher loads and some lower, consult the cable specification provided by
Sterlite to determine the maximum placing load for each cable). Fiber optic cable winches tend
to be smaller than the line truck bed winches used for copper cables. Capstan winches are
popular. Some of these winches are stand alone, using portable power packs (electric and
hydraulic) and some are truck or trailer mounted using the hydraulic power take-off from the
support truck for power. Fiber winches should all have or be coupled to cable tension
monitoring systems to ensure that the maximum cable tension is not violated. Slip clutches are
often used for side take-off winches on line trucks.

7.4 Cable Blowing and Pushing Engine

The micro-duct system is based on the use of a combination of smaller diameter sub-ducts and
more compact optical cables using more efficient placing methods and equipment specifically
tuned to micro- ducts and micro-cables. It is possible to use equipment similar to that used to
place micro-duct cable to place standard size optical cables; it is specially tuned to the
standard diameter optical cables and innerduct.
8. Buried Cable Placing Methods
All buried cable routes should be marked with signs or markers to clearly identify the route
as an optical communications cable and warning contractors of the impending danger if they
dig along this route.

Figure 2– Fiber Optic Marking Tape and Warning Sign

8.1 Trenched Construction

Buried cable placement is done using a trencher or excavator to dig a narrow trench for the
entire length of the cable route.The trench is lined with a bed of fine, granular soil to provide a
gentle cushion for the cable. After the trench has been dug, the cable may be laid out along the
side of the trench. If unoccupied sub-ducts or conduits are being placed with the buried cable
they may also be assembled and laid alongside of the buried cable for eventual placement onto
the trench.The cable shall be laid out with sufficient extra cable at the splice locations to satisfy
splicing length requirements, maintenance requirements, and spare length to compensate for
any splicing problems.The cable shall be carefully lifted into the open trench, being careful not
to violate its minimum bend radius limit. If sub-ducts are to be placed alongside the buried
cable, they should be placed next to the cable with several inches space between the two
entities.The sub-duct should be placed under slight tension to remove any undulations and
keep it as straight as possible.Cross-over's between individual items being placed is not
permitted.
The buried cable (and sub-duct) should be covered with a lift of select granular soil to a depth 4
to 6 inches above its top surface. The remainder of the trench should be filled in two lifts with
good quality soil containing no debris or large rocks. A plastic warning tape shall be buried
between the two top layers of soil backfill alerting future construction forces to the presence of
the buried cable, see Figure 3. The filled trench shall be compacted with a compactor or using
the rubber tire or track from the excavator.
If a below ground crossing obstacle is encountered, a trench exposing the obstacle should be
carefully dug, if necessary by hand. The buried cable is then either passed under or over the
obstacle.
In some cases, a roadway can be cut with a very narrow slot to lay the cable into. This slot
should be prepared with a bed of select granular soil before the cable is placed. The remainder
of the slot should be filled with the same select granular soil. The road surface should be
patched after a week or two to fill in the slot to settle.
Often surface obstacles are breached using directional drilling or tunneling. A starting pit needs
to be prepared for the drilling or tunneling operation. The excavated trench for the buried cable
should be brought to the starting pit. The buried cable is then hand fed through the tunnel
casing. Normally, it is advisable to locate a splice point on the far side of such a crossing.
8.2 Plowed Construction
Buried cable placement can also be done using a plow (either vibrating or static) being pulled
by a tractor. The tractor is usually a large diesel powered, tracked vehicle, although rubber
tires are used on some vehicles. The plow share must be properly designed to feed the cable
into the soil without violating its minimum bending radius. The share must provide a smooth
entry for the cable and have no sharp edges to damage the cable. Most plow trains are
arranged with the front end of the tractor carrying the cable reel. The cable is passed over the
top of the tractor to the plow share with its pathway controlled by a series of rollers positioned
on top of the tractor to capture the cable and keep it safe and in line with the plow as it passes
over the tractor. The cable is tended by an operator to feed it into the top of the plow under zero
tension.

If plowing is attempted in difficult soil, it may be necessary to use a second tractor, pulling in
tandem with the primary tractor. Rocky, frozen, or poor quality soils may need to be ripped in
advance of the plowing operation.

The cable reel is loaded on the tractor and the cable is passed through the guide rollers over
the top of the tractor. The cable is hand tended as it passes smoothly into the top of the plow
share; it should enter the share under no tension with a small slack loop above the share. At the
start of each cable reel placement sufficient cable slack shall be carefully pulled through the
plow share to account for sufficient extra cable at the splice locations to satisfy splicing length
requirements, maintenance requirements, and spare length to compensate for any splicing
problems.

A starting pit for the plow must be dug in alignment with the cable alignment. It provides a
starting point for the plowing operation for each cable. The plow share must start at full burial
depth for the cable. A starting pit approximately 6-inches deeper than the cable depth and
about 8 feet long should be provided at the starting portion of each cable length. The plow will
start the plowing operation from inside the starting pit.

Figure 3– Plow Starting Pit

If a crossing obstacle is encountered, it should be hand excavated and the cable laid over the
top of the obstacle or hand fed under the obstacle. If the cable needs to be hand fed under the
obstacle, the obstacle should be near the start or end of the cable reel. If the obstacle is early in
the cable length, it shall be hand fed before plowing is started; if it occurs later in the cable
length, it shall be hand fed after plowing is completed.
Cable plowing should be started slowly and if things continue to work properly, the process can
be increased in speed. It is imperative that the plowing operation be kept at a nearly constant
depth. If the plow share rotates sharply up or down from changes in plow depth or surface
gullies, it will crush the cable and fibers will be damaged.

In some cases, a very narrow slot can be cut into a roadway with a rock saw. The cable can be
laid into this slotted trench after the trench is prepared with a bed of select granular soil. The
remainder of the slot should be filled with the same select granular soil.

Often surface obstacles are breached using directional drilling or tunneling. A starting pit needs
to be prepared for the drilling or tunneling operation. The plow placing the buried cable should
be brought to the starting pit. The buried plant is then hand fed through the tunnel casing.
Normally, it is advisable to locate a splice point on the far side of such a crossing.

Figure 4– Plowed Road Crossing

9. Manhole or Handhole Housekeeping

9.1 Cable Coiling
Spare cable from the cable placing operation should be stored in splice manholes or hand
holes in a neat coil wrapped with a radius greater than the minimum bend radius of the cable.
Forms for the cable coiling operation can be commercially purchased.
Cable coils should be stored in a safe location, away from the normal work operations.The
cable coils should be cable tied in place.

9.2 Racking Cable and Innerduct

The cable must be properly terminated in a splice closure.The proper clamping of the central
strength member is necessary to provide a positive stop to prevent central strength member
(CSM) pistoning. In addition, the jacket must be properly secured to prevent jacket retraction or
cable slippage.
If possible, when racking cables in intermediate hand holes, the innerduct should be
continuous through the handhole. The innerduct will provide the cable with an extra layer of
protection during future work activities. Form the innerduct and enclosed cable to the sides of
the handhole, being careful to maintain the cable's minimum bend radius. Once the cable and
innerduct are formed along the handhole walls in a safe location, secure them to the handhole
using plastic cable ties. Pulling slack innerduct from adjacent handholes is not recommended.

Expressing micro-duct cable buffer tubes through a splice closures is not recommended. The
buffer tubes shall be opened in the splice closure and the express fibers shall be stored in the
closure's splice trays or routed in furcation tubing through the closure. If the buffer tubes are
expressed through the splice closure, an increase in attenuation may occur at colder
temperatures.

Additional Information
If there are additional questions on this topic or other fiber optic issues, please contact Sterlite
Technologies at:

Contact Information
[email protected]
www.sterlitetechnologies.com

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